Reflections of Cross‐Cultural Collaboration Science

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/job.1881
• Published date: 01 August 2013
• Date: 01 August 2013
• Author: Eduardo Salas,Maritza Salazar

Reflections of Cross-Cultural Collaboration Science

MARITZA SALAZAR

1

AND EDUARDO SALAS

2

*

1

Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California, U.S.A.

2

Department of Psychology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, U.S.A.

The notion that effective collaboration benefits team and organizational performance has been around for many

years. Interest in the construct of collaboration is a dominant area of research not only in the fields of industrial

organizational psychology and organizational behavior but also in other areas of study such as sociology and

medicine (Bedwell et al., 2012). Most recently, the prevalence and growth of global work, consisting of activities

such as trade, off-shoring, and economic activity across national borders, has aroused the interest of cross-cultural

psychologists in studying collaboration. The articles presented in this special issue provide evidence of this growing

area of inquiry.

Looking across this growing body of theoretical and empirical research, we observe that the use of a common

definition of this construct could help future cross-cultural and multicultural research to be more fruitfully

conducted. Hence, our goal here is to highlight several fundamental questions that exist regarding collaboration

within and across national and cultural borders. We will not attempt to review or summarize the literature that

has been amassed over the past few decades. Rather, we seek to provide an integrated view of the key questions,

problems, and opportunities that pose a direct challenge to our field. By highlighting these areas, we seek to

stimulate others to conduct needed research.

We believe that several fundamental questions regarding the nature of collaboration within and across cultures

still exist. These questions are as follows: (i) What can be gained by studying collaboration from a cross-cultural

perspective? (ii) What do we know (and not know) about collaboration within and between cultures? (iii) What

do we need to know in order to effectively manage multicultural collaborations? (iv) How should we advance

scholarship about cross-cultural and multicultural collaborations? The remainder of this paper is organized around

these focal questions. Prior to answering these questions, we start with the presentation of a unifying definition of

collaboration and the value for studying collaboration from a cultural perspective in the first place. We conclude

with recommendations for future directions.

What is This Thing Called “Collaboration”?

Providing the field with a common definition of collaboration is a critical starting point for advancing theory and

research. Defining collaboration is not an easy task given that over 20 different definitions of it across 10 different

disciplines have been identified in the literature (Bedwell et al., 2012). Scholars have also conceptualized

collaboration across levels of analysis defining it at interpersonal, team, organizational, and interorganizational

levels. Further complicating matters, the literature has also been murky on the relationship between collaboration,

teamwork, coordination, and cooperation.

The inconsistent use of the term collaboration creates confusion and inhibits the theoretical and empirical

exploitation of this construct. The definition established by Bedwell et al. (2012) stating, “collaboration is as an

evolving process whereby two or more social entities actively and reciprocally engage in joint activities aimed at

*Correspondence to: Eduardo Salas, Department of Psychology,University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, U.S.A. E-mail: esalas@ist.ucf.edu

Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Journal of Organizational Behavior, J. Organiz. Behav. 34, 910–917 (2013)

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/job.1881

Special Issue Article